Mythical Cristobal

Another mountain adventure with Team Injury – this time it’s in Mt Cristobal.

Dubbed as the devil’s mountain Mt Cristobal is situated at the back of Mt Banahaw (Holy Mountain) standing at 1470 MASL. One thing that makes Cristobal an “it” mountain to climb is to see or experience whether the “mysterious” stories are true or not. 

Our group started to climb at 2 in the afternoon after our chartered jeepney dropped us off at the jump off. It took us 45 minutes of pure assault before we reach the first and only water source along the trail. It was an old house where the caretaker lives. We did not meet the caretaker when we were there so we just filled our water containers, relaxed a bit and then went on. Along the trail you can see a small but meaningful sign saying “Move quietly.”  The trail was friendly even though majority of it was assault. The air was unusually cold which add up to the relaxed atmosphere. 

We arrived at the campsite (we camped at the swamp area) at 6:30pm. We immediately set our camp because we start to feel colder. We only used a beach tent and it was not enough to make us feel warm. 

It was a very long night for me. I was not able to sleep. The mysteries of the mountain kept me awake as if I was guarding myself from those entities. My mind was wide awake. I prayed so hard that sun will rise faster than usual.

It was 7:00Am when we went up to the “peak” of the mountain. We had a view of the so-called seven lakes. I was surprised to see my friend “Itchie” at the “peak”. I didn’t know we were in the same place at the same time. 

Anyway, after picture perfect moments we went down to pack our things and head back to the jump off. We literally ran down the trail until we reached the old house. 

From then on I knew what “Move quietly” means.

~Till then.